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  • UN Warns on Voter Surveillance Ahead of Myanmar Election

    GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. human rights office voiced concern on Friday that the Myanmar junta was pressuring people into voting in an election next month and that electronic voting machines and AI surveillance could help authorities to identify opponents.

    International officials have already raised concerns about Myanmar’s phased election from December 28 into January, calling it a sham exercise aimed at legitimising the military’s rule after it overthrew a civilian democratic government in 2021.

    The electronic voting machines did not allow people to leave their ballot blank or spoil it, meaning they have to pick a candidate, said James Rodehaver, head of the Myanmar team for Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

    “There’s a real worry that this electronic surveillance technology is going to be used to monitor how people are voting,” he told a Geneva press conference, saying that authorities could track if people are voting, and who for.

    The military authorities in Myanmar intend “to enable all eligible voters to exercise their franchise freely and fairly in the upcoming general election”, state media reported on Friday. Reuters was unable to reach a junta spokesperson for further comment.

    Rodehaver said his team is verifying reports that locals are being forced to attend military training sessions on how to use the electronic voting machines in contested areas.

    “After such training, some participants were warned by armed groups not to vote,” he said, saying civilians were caught between the two sides.

    OHCHR has also received reports of displaced people being ordered by the military to return to their villages to vote, Rodehaver said.

    Authorities have arrested three young people who hung up posters depicting a ballot box with a bullet, he added. Myanmar previously said it has pardoned thousands in order to allow them to vote.

    The country has been in turmoil since the coup overthrew the civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention ever since. Nationwide protests afterwards grew into an armed resistance.

    The Trump administration announced that it will end temporary legal status for Myanmar citizens in the United States, claiming they can now safely return, citing the junta’s planned elections as a sign of improvement. OHCHR is urging the United States to reconsider, it said.

    Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun previously said that the U.S. announcement was a positive sign and citizens abroad were welcome to return to take part in the vote.

    (Reporting by Emma Farge; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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  • Zuma’s Daughter Quits South Africa Parliament Over Russia Recruitment Allegations

    JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, a daughter of former South African president Jacob Zuma, has resigned from parliament amid allegations that she lured 17 men to fight for Russia in Ukraine, her party said on Friday.

    Zuma-Sambudla was a lawmaker in the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) opposition party led by her father. MK officials said she resigned voluntarily and that her departure from the National Assembly and all other public roles was effective immediately.

    Nathi Nhleko, MK party national organiser, told reporters MK was not involved in luring the men to Russia and that Zuma-Sambudla’s resignation was not an admission of guilt, but added that MK would help support the men’s families.

    “The national officials have accepted comrade Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla’s decision to resign and support her efforts to ensure that these young South Africans are brought back safely to their families,” he said.

    Zuma-Sambudla was present at the press conference but did not speak, and has not publicly responded to the accusations from her half-sister.

    South Africa’s government said this month that 17 of its citizens were stuck in Ukraine’s Donbas region after being tricked into fighting for mercenary forces under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts. It said it was working to bring them home and investigating how they got there.

    On Sunday, police said they would investigate Zuma-Sambudla after her half-sister made a formal request for the probe into her and two other people, accusing them of being involved.

    More than 1,400 citizens from three dozen African countries are fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, Kyiv’s foreign minister said this month, urging countries to warn their citizens about recruitment.

    (Reporting by Siyanda Mthethwa; Editing by Nellie Peyton and Alison Williams)

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  • French Minister Backs Telecoms Group Orange’s Temporary Closure of Marseille Site Over Crime Fears

    PARIS (Reuters) -French telecoms group Orange is right to temporarily close its site in Marseille to protect staff from problems related to drug gangs in the area, the country’s employment minister said on Friday, calling for a bigger police presence.

    Gang-related drug crime is on the rise in France and in particular in the Mediterranean port city, where the risks were highlighted by the murder this month of Mehdi Kessaci, the 20-year-old brother of anti-drug crime campaigner Amine Kessaci.

    “Orange is taking a decision that is needed to protect its workers,” Jean-Pierre Farandou told RTL radio, when asked about comments from an Orange official that it was closing the site in the Saint-Mauront area of Marseille from Friday to mid-December.

    “This is one more sign that we need to give this country additional means to fight drug trafficking,” Farandou said.

    The company employs around 1,000 at the site in Marseille.

    Sébastien Crozier, a director representing Orange staff members, told BFM TV that Orange had taken that decision “based on the information available to them, in addition to the information we have received from employees.”

    Crozier also described the current situation regarding that Marseille site as “absolutely critical”.

    Latin American cocaine shipments to Europe have led to more violence by organised crime groups across the continent, leaving dealers flush with cash and willing to fight it out to protect their lucrative patches, officials and analysts have said.

    According to French newspaper Le Parisien, French bank BNP Paribas was planning to leave a site in northern Paris, where it employs 2,000 staff, to regroup them on other sites, also as a response to rising crime in the area.

    Asked for comment, BNP Paribas did not mention crime, saying only that the relocation project was part of a broader redeployment of staff across its sites as the lease on the northern Paris site was running out.

    (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, additional reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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  • At Crowded Ukrainian Cemetery, Mourners Yearn for War to End

    LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -After losing her son to Russia’s war in Ukraine, Olya Kachmaryk hopes a new U.S.-backed peace plan can finally end the fighting – even if it could mean giving up land he fought for as a soldier.

    “The more they (the Russians) come this way, the more they’ll want,” said Kachmaryk, 50, visiting his grave in the western city of Lviv as Russia pushed forward on the battlefield hundreds of miles to the east.

    Her son Oleksandr is among the more than 1,000 fallen troops buried in a quiet corner of Lychakiv Cemetery, where officials say only a handful of spaces remain as casualties mount from nearly four years of war.

    On a recent afternoon, a thick sea of blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags fluttered in the frigid air as mourners bade farewell to another fighter – one of the last burials as authorities rush to prepare a new cemetery nearby.

    SCALE OF LOSS ‘REALLY STRIKING’

    Ukraine is under pressure from the Trump administration to accept an agreement that could force Kyiv into painful concessions, such as ceding an eastern region it still partly controls, where Russian forces are advancing slowly.

    In a sombre address last week, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned his country faced its most difficult moment yet, but said he would not betray Ukraine’s interests by signing a bad deal.

    Oksana Rymaruk, 25, whose husband was killed in June and is buried at Lychakiv, said she was in favour of negotiations to end the war as soon as possible.

    “Let them do what it takes for our kids to be able to run around on free land – and to freely visit their fathers’ and mothers’ graves,” she said.

    Rymaruk, holding her 1-1/2-year-old child swathed in a puffy white jacket, said the scale of losses on display at Lychakiv was “really striking.”

    ‘WHAT DID MY SON DIE FOR?’

    Local officials have selected a new location to accommodate future casualties. Earlier this week, workers were clearing the vacant plot circled by tall trees amid the din of excavators.

    Despite Ukraine’s staggering losses – numbering in the tens of thousands of dead – a narrow majority of Ukrainians still rejects territorial concessions, according to a recent poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.

    On Thursday, Zelenskiy’s top aide and chief negotiator Andriy Yermak told the Atlantic magazine that “no one should count on us giving up territory”.

    Standing with her back to long rows of graves, 68-year-old Antonina Ryshko, who lost her son Marian, 41, said there was “no way” Ukraine should surrender any more land.

    “What did my son die for?” she asked.

    Dismissing the peace deal currently on the table, Ryshko added: “Let them rewrite it.”

    (Writing by Dan Peleschuk in Kyiv; Editing by Conor Humphries)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • ICC Rejects Plea to Release Philippine Ex-President Duterte

    THE HAGUE (Reuters) -Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, will remain in detention in The Hague, appeals judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled on Friday, dismissing defence arguments the 80-year-old should be released due to his advanced age and alleged declining health.

    (Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg and Charlotte Van Campenhout, Editing by Bart Meijer)

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  • Tunisia Court Gives Long Prison Terms to 40 Opposition Leaders, Business and Media Figures

    TUNIS (Reuters) -A Tunisian appeals court on Friday sentenced 40 opposition leaders, business and media figures to jail terms ranging from five to 45 years on charges of conspiring against state security, the state news agency TAP said.

    The case was one of the largest prosecutions for security offences in the North African country’s recent history. The defendants had been on trial since March, while more than 20 others had fled abroad, authorities said.

    (Reporting by Tarek Amara; editing by Mark Heinrich)

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  • Swiss Wealth Tax Proposal to Test Public Appetite for Redistribution

    ZURICH (Reuters) -Switzerland will vote on a proposed wealth tax on Sunday that will be a litmus test of appetite for wealth redistribution in one of the world’s richest countries.

    The proposal from the youth wing of the leftist Social Democrats, or JUSOs, is for a 50% tax to be levied on inherited fortunes of 50 million Swiss francs ($62 million) or more to fund projects to reduce the impact of climate change.

    Around 2,500 taxpayers in Switzerland have assets worth more than 50 million francs, according to Swiss tax authorities, with a total wealth of about 500 billion francs.

    With as many as two-thirds of respondents against the proposed tax in recent polls, the measure is widely expected to fail, turning attention to the level of support.

    “I hope it doesn’t pass,” UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said during a business event in Zurich last weekend. “But how it’s rejected, what the outcome is, that’s important. Because … it does give an indication of where Switzerland is heading.”

    Switzerland is the world’s largest wealth management hub, but could lose that crown as early as this year, according to a forecast from Boston Consulting Group.

    The country is home to some of the most expensive cities on the planet and anxiety about the cost of living has been gaining currency in local politics.

    In 2024, Switzerland voted to introduce an additional month’s pension payments for the elderly as living-cost concerns trumped warnings about its affordability.

    If enacted, the wealth tax initiative would theoretically boost the tax take by 4 billion francs.

    JUSO leader Mirjam Hostetmann argues the very wealthy are damaging the climate most with their luxury consumption, and that the 10 richest families in Switzerland together cause as many emissions as the vast majority of the Swiss population.

    Critics of the initiative say it could trigger an exodus of wealthy people from Switzerland, reducing overall tax revenues. The Swiss government has urged voters to reject it.

    “The initiative would greatly reduce Switzerland’s attractiveness for wealthy individuals,” Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said last month.

    ($1 = 0.8055 Swiss francs)

    (Reporting by Ariane Luthi and Dave Graham; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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  • Europe Fears It Can’t Catch Up in Great Power Competition

    BRUSSELS—In the accelerating contest between great powers, Europe is struggling to keep up. 

    The continent’s leaders have long worried they will be left behind as the U.S., China and Russia vie for economic, technological and military dominance. 

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  • Opinion | Britain Budgets for National Decline

    Labour’s tax increases are pushing workers and investors abroad.

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  • Germany’s Merz: Ukraine Will Need Strong Army After Any Peace Deal

    BERLIN (Reuters) -Ukraine will need strong armed forces and security guarantees after any peace deal with Russia is agreed and Kyiv should not be forced to surrender territory, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday.

    Stressing that European as well as Ukrainian security interests were at stake, Merz said guarantees were being discussed with the U.S. and Ukraine.

    “Ukraine needs strong armed forces, and if a peace agreement is reached … Ukraine will continue to need strong armed forces and reliable security guarantees from its partners,” said Merz at a press conference with his Estonian counterpart.

    The most important guarantee, he said, was a well-equipped Ukrainian army.

    “That is why we are also discussing the future target size of the Ukrainian army,” Merz said, adding it was too early to discuss any deployment of international troops.

    European countries have insisted that the upper limit for Ukraine should be 800,000 soldiers rather than 600,000.

    Merz also said Ukraine should not be forced to accept territorial concessions and that the front line must be the starting point for any negotiations.

    (Reporting by Madeline Chambers and Andreas Rinke; editing by Matthias Williams and Ros Russell)

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  • Putin Says U.S.-Ukraine Text Could Form Basis Future Peace Agreement

    BISHKEK (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the outlines of a draft peace plan discussed by the United States and Ukraine could become the basis of future agreements to end the conflict in Ukraine but that if not then Russia would continue to fight.

    “In general, we agree that this can be the basis for future agreements,” Putin said, adding that the variant of the plan discussed by the United States and Ukraine in Geneva had been passed to Russia.

    Putin said that the United States was taking into account Russia’s position but that some things still need to be discussed. He said that if Europe wanted a pledge not to attack it, then Russia was willing to give such a pledge.

    Russia, Putin said, was still being told it should cease the fighting.

    “Ukrainian troops must withdraw from the territories they hold, and then the fighting will cease. If they don’t leave, then we shall achieve this by armed means. That’s it,” Putin said. Russian forces, he said, were advancing in Ukraine at a faster pace.

    Putin said that he considered the Ukrainian leadership to be illegitimate and so it was legally impossible to sign a deal with Ukraine, so it was important to ensure any agreement was recognised by the international community – and that the international community recognised Russian gains in Ukraine.

    Putin rejected the suggestion that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff had shown himself to be biased towards Moscow in peace talks over Ukraine, describing it as nonsense.

    (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin Writing by Maxim Rodionov; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

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  • After Meeting Pope, Erdogan Praises His ‘Astute Stance’ on Palestinian Issue

    ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan praised Pope Leo’s stance on the Palestinian issue after meeting him in Ankara on Thursday, and said he hoped his first overseas visit as Catholic leader will benefit humanity at a time of tension and uncertainty.

    “We commend (Pope Leo’s) astute stance on the Palestinian issue,” Erdogan said in an address to the Pope and political and religious leaders at the presidential library in the Turkish capital Ankara.

    “Our debt to the Palestinian people is justice, and the foundation of this is to immediately implement the vision of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. Similarly, preserving the historic status of Jerusalem is crucial,” Erdogan said.

    Pope Leo’s calls for peace and diplomacy regarding the war in Ukraine are also very meaningful, Erdogan said.

    In September, Leo met at the Vatican with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and raised the “tragic situation” in Gaza with him.

    Turkey has emerged as among the harshest critics of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, in its conflict there with Palestinian militant group Hamas.

    (Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Daren Butler)

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  • Russia to Close Polish Consulate in Siberia in Row Over Railway Sabotage

    MOSCOW/WARSAW (Reuters) -Russia on Thursday ordered Poland to close its consulate in the Siberian city of Irkutsk in retaliation for Warsaw’s decision to close the last Russian consulate in Poland after a railway explosion that was blamed on Moscow.

    Poland, a former Warsaw Pact member which joined the U.S.-led NATO military alliance in 1999, said two Ukrainians working for Moscow were behind a blast earlier this month on the line that links Warsaw to the Ukrainian border.

    Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the blast was an “unprecedented act of sabotage” and Poland’s special services said evidence pointed to Russian intelligence being behind it.

    Moscow denied that, saying levels of “Russophobia” were so high in Europe that it was routinely blamed for any incident without any evidence being presented.

    Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Polish Ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski and handed him a note explaining that the Irkutsk consulate would be closed from December 30 in response to Warsaw’s decision to close the Gdansk consulate.

    “The curtailment of the Russian consular presence in Poland under an absurd pretext is an openly hostile, unjustified step by the Polish leadership,” the Foreign Ministry said.

    Moscow said it wanted to issue a reminder that any attacks on Russia would elicit “an adequate, painful response.”

    Poland said it saw no basis for closing its consulate in Irkutsk.

    “We accepted Russia’s decision to withdraw consent, although we believe there were no grounds for it because it is not Poland that is organising acts of terror in Russia,” Maciej Wewior, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, told reporters.

    He said there were three employees at the consulate and they would leave Russia by the end of next month.

    (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow, Maxim Rodionov in London and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw; editing by Mark Trevelyan)

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  • Ukrainian Nord Stream Suspect to Be Extradited to Germany From Italy on Thursday, Say Prosecutors

    FRANKFURT (Reuters) -A Ukrainian man suspected of coordinating the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in 2022 will be flown to Germany on Thursday after Italy’s top court approved his extradition last week, a spokesperson for Germany’s federal prosecutors said.

    Described by both Moscow and the West as an act of sabotage, explosions in the Baltic Sea three years ago largely severed Russian gas transit to Europe, squeezing energy supplies on the continent, although Russia had already largely stopped deliveries.

    Investigators spent years piecing together the mystery of who was behind them.

    SUSPECT DENIES ROLE IN ATTACKS

    The suspect, identified as Serhii K. under German privacy laws, denies any role in the attacks. His lawyer Nicola Canestrini has said he is confident that his client will be acquitted after a trial in Germany.

    German prosecutors accuse him of belonging to a group of people who planted devices on the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic.

    He faces charges of collusion to cause an explosion, anti-constitutional sabotage and destruction of important structures.

    The suspect was detained on a European arrest warrant in the Italian town of Rimini in August but fought attempts to transfer him to Germany. 

    Last month, a court in Poland ruled against handing over another Ukrainian suspect wanted by Germany in connection with the explosions and ordered his immediate release from detention.

    (Reporting by Tilman BlasshoferWriting by Madeline ChambersEditing by Ludwig Burger)

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  • Where Trump Sees Deals, Russia and China See a Chance to Disrupt U.S. Alliances

    U.S. adversaries are using President Trump’s eagerness to strike deals as a chance to drive a wedge between the U.S. and its allies and undermine the Washington-led security order that has for years held them in check.

    In Europe, Russia is seeking to exploit Trump’s desire to halt the war in Ukraine and strike business deals with Moscow by shaping a peace plan that meets many of its strategic objectives, including winning chunks of Ukrainian territory and closing off any hope Kyiv had of joining NATO.

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  • Turkey Says Lebanon-Cyprus Maritime Deal Violates Turkish Cypriots’ Rights, Is Unacceptable

    ANKARA (Reuters) -A maritime demarcation deal signed between Lebanon and Cyprus violates the rights of Turkish Cypriots on the island and is therefore unacceptable, Turkey said on Thursday.

    Lebanon and Cyprus on Wednesday signed the long-awaited deal, which aims to pave the way for potential exploration of offshore gas fields and deepen energy cooperation in the Mediterranean.

    Turkey, a NATO member, does not recognise the Greek Cypriot government on the ethnically-split island of Cyprus, and is the only country to recognise the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. It has repeatedly complained that Greek Cypriots were disregarding and usurping Turkish Cypriot rights.

    ‘NOT POSSIBLE FOR US TO ACCEPT’

    “It is not possible for us to accept any agreement in which the rights of the TRNC are disregarded,” the Turkish Defence Ministry said at its weekly press briefing, using an acronym for the Turkish Cypriot government.

    “We evaluate that this accord, which disregards the TRNC’s rights, is also in violation of the interests of the Lebanese people, and tell our Lebanese counterparts that we are ready for cooperation on maritime issues,” it added.

    Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Oncu Keceli said the deal was another example of Greek Cypriots disregarding the rights of Turkish Cypriots, and said the Greek Cypriot administration was not the sole representative of the island and therefore did not have the authority to take decisions concerning the whole island.

    “We call on the international community, namely countries of the region, not to support these unilateral steps by the Greek Cypriot Administration and not to become instruments in attempts to usurp the legitimate rights and interests of the Turkish Cypriots, who are sovereign and equal elements of the island,” Keceli said on X.

    Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup. The last round of peace talks between the two sides collapsed in 2017, with efforts to revive them at a stalemate since.

    (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Conor Humphries)

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  • Pope Leo, Flying on Thanksgiving, Given Two Pumpkin Pies on Papal Plane

    ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO ANKARA (Reuters) -Like many Americans on the annual holiday of Thanksgiving, Pope Leo was travelling on Thursday, flying from Rome to Turkey for his first overseas trip as leader of the Catholic Church.

    While the first U.S. pope may not have a chance to enjoy a meal with turkey, stuffing and the other traditional dishes this year, several journalists aboard his papal flight from Rome tried to make sure he had a taste of the annual feast.

    As Leo greeted journalists aboard his three-hour flight to Ankara, two members of the press handed him pumpkin pies, home-made and carried through the airport and on to the plane just for the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Church.

    The journalists, Cindy Wooden of Catholic News Service and Elise Allen of Catholic website Crux, suggested Leo could share the desserts with his travelling entourage.

    The pope, smiling, responded: “I’ll share some.”

    Leo is visiting Turkey, the country, for three days before heading on to Lebanon, for a trip where he is expected to make appeals for peace in the Middle East and urge unity among long-divided Christian churches.

    Speaking to journalists at the beginning of his flight, Leo told them he was grateful this year for the work they do in covering the Church and the first months of his papacy.

    “To the Americans here, Happy Thanksgiving,” said Leo. “I want to begin by saying thank you to each and every one of you, for the service that you offer … to the whole world.

    “It’s so important today that the message be transmitted in a way that really reveals the truth and the harmony that the world needs.”

    (Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Daren Butler and Alex Richardson)

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  • Turkey Says Russia-Ukraine Ceasefire Needed First Before Discussing Troop Deployment

    ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey’s defence ministry said on Thursday that a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia must be achieved first before any discussions can take place on possible troop deployment for a potential reassurance force.

    On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said the force would have French, British and Turkish soldiers. Ankara, which has maintained cordial ties with both Moscow and Kyiv during the war, has said it was open to discussing such a deployment but only if its modalities were set.

    “First, a ceasefire must be established between Russia and Ukraine. Afterward, a mission framework must be established with a clear mandate, and the extent to which each country will contribute must be determined,” the ministry said at a press briefing when asked about Macron’s comments.

    (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)

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  • Pope Leo Heads to Turkey and Lebanon for His First Foreign Trip

    ISTANBUL—After a low-profile start to his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV is stepping into the limelight.

    The first American pope begins his first foreign trip on Thursday, touring Turkey and Lebanon. It is a chance for him to set out his spiritual and geopolitical vision after six months as pontiff, notable for its relative quiet after years of turbulence in the Catholic Church.

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  • The JD Vance Classmate Emerging as a Key Player in Talks to End the Ukraine War

    When President Trump decided to send Pentagon representatives to Ukraine in an attempt to resuscitate stalled peace talks, he turned to an unexpected source: Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.

    Driscoll, a friend and former law-school classmate of Vice President JD Vance, vaulted to a new diplomatic role last week when he delivered to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a U.S.-led proposal to end the war. On Monday, he traveled to Abu Dhabi to meet with a Russian delegation and with the Ukrainian officials again, clinching a promise that Kyiv would sign a peace deal Trump has sought since the campaign trail. Russia hasn’t signed off on the plan.

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